Friends Not Food
by ebony volf
Summary: In which there are sandwiches, ruined shirts, and it's a good thing one of Newton's six doctorates is in Marine Biology. -Part two of the 'Beyond The Sea' Verse


Since the Shatterdome wasn't technically operating yet it seemed the choice in food was very limited.

Which meant, either you like ham and cheese sandwiches, or you better suck it up and eat the damned ham and cheese anyway.

So good thing both he and Chuck seemed fine with the fair.

There wasn't a whole lot of people in the Commissary. Just a small group of mechanics off towards the right. Hardhats and tool-belts thrown across the tables and floor. None of them seemed interested in the scientist or child. Well, besides a few raised eyebrows. No questions though, so that was a bonus.

Chuck ate his sandwich with all the viciousness of a small Kaiju. Going so fast Newt was pretty sure he wasn't even tasting what he put in his mouth. On the plus side, he either had better manners then Newton (who still talked with his mouth full) or was really hungry.

The scientist hoped it was the first, but is was more likely the later.

Everything was going fine between them. Chuck seemed to have relaxed again, once it became obvious his father wasn't going to jump out from behind a concrete pillar while they ate. Their meal was silent though. Newt at a loss of what was age appropriate for a 10 (11? Christ how old was the kid? Note to self; Childhood Development may be a more useful PhD then previously thought) year-old to talk about. His go-to about Kaiju physiology and their silicone makeup may just be out of Chuck's ability to grasp.

Hell, it was out of most of his college's ability. At least with them though when he prattled on about the subject they looked fascinated. Chuck was just liable to stare at him like he was insane.

The boy had finally finished his sandwich with military preciseness. Every last scrap of filling that had fallen out in his feeding frenzy was eaten, along with the half-apple that had been the only other food item available.

Newton was duly impressed, barely half way through his own sandwich and Chuck had just opened his milk container and was chugging like a champ.

Suddenly the boy started to choke. He pulled the milk away like it had burned him, spilling some onto his t-shirt and the table top as he coughed and blinked his eyes as tears rapidly rose.

"Holy Shi-!" Newt cut himself off from his surprised shout. "Swallow the wrong way?" He asked a little worried. He knew first aid, of course, but hopefully it wasn't necessary.

Chuck nodded weakly as he continued to cough. His face was a bright red. Either embarrassed or a physical reaction to the irritation in his throat.

Newt wearily watched as Chuck pounded his chest and finally seemed to calm down. Blinking away the tears. His eyebrows crinkled in distress after a second, and the fist that was against his shirt started to pat around before he griped the fabric and pulled it forward to inspect.

"No!" Chuck wailed, seeing the wet spot from his milk. The area around his grinning shark was soaked. He frantically grabbed a handful of napkins and started to try and rub the spot dry. Not that it did much good, the cheap paper-products the PPDC bought didn't seem capable of doing more then crumbling to shreds. No chance they would even make a dent in the wet spot.

"Hey, it's okay." Newton tried to comfort. Chuck ignored him. Seeming to grow more distressed at his shirt.

Newton sighed and looked at his sandwich, then his own button-up. Oh well, he didn't like this shirt anyway.

"Oops!" he dropped the sandwich, and as expected, it left a streak of mustard to stain his white shirt on the way down. Thankfully, he had a napkin in his lap so his pants were spared the same fate. Chuck's head snapped up, and his frantic scrubbing stopped to stare at the damage Newt had just caused.

"Guess we match now, huh?" He grinned at the boy's wide eyed look. Picking up his sandwich and depositing it back on his tray. Then reaching for one of the remaining napkins to try and dab out most of the mustard. Never-mind it was a lost cause and he had already accepted that this shirt was a goner.

Chuck looked in between his shirt and Newt's for a few seconds, before putting the napkins down.

"If I wash it," the boy gave a shaky breath before starting over. "If I wash this shirt, then the shark could peel off." he shook his head frantically. "It's the only one I have left, I can't ruin it!"

"The only shirt you have?" Newt raised an eyebrow.

"No, the only one with a shark." Chuck muttered. Not looking at Newton and his ears turning red.

"Oh?" He crumbled up the mustard covered napkin and dropped it on his plate beside the sandwich. "So..." he drawled looking at the embarrassed child. "Sharks are your thing, huh? They're pretty cool. I had to learn about them when I got my Doctorate in Marine Biology."

Chuck sucked in a breath, and suddenly every ounce of gloom and embarrassment left. He smacked his hands down on the table and with wide eyes let out an excited "You're a Shark-Scientist!" His shirt completely forgotten.

Newt laughed. Okay, no one had ever gotten that excited over his Marine Biology Doctorate. He had taken it mostly to fill in time while teaching at MIT.

"Not exactly," he smiled. Trying so very hard not to keep laughing as the child seemed to deflate before his eyes. "I'm actually a Kaiju-Scientist, but." He leans over to whisper. "I have gone Shark-Cage diving. Even have pictures of the Great Whites that we saw."

Chuck squealed. There was no other word for it. "You've seen Great Whites? Those are the best Sharks! They got the biggest, coolest teeth. I mean, besides Megalodon's, but they're all gone. So Great White's are the best sharks! I also like the Hammerheads, All of them! Even the Winghead Shark. Cause it's technically not a Hammerhead. My shark book says it's a different family. But, it looks like a Hammerhead! So that means it's still cool."

Newton listened with a growing smile as the boy proceeded to name most of the Hammerhead family. Using his fingers to tick each one off. He got to eight and stopped, face scrunching up as he muttered "Uhg, I forgot the last one!" and wiggled his last two fingers like that would give him the answer.

"Scolloped Bonnethead." Newton supplied. "You got the Scolloped Hammerhead earlier, but it's okay. Keeping those two apart is tricky. Especially since they have almost the same name."

"That's it!" Chuck nodded happily. "How'd you know though, I thought you weren't a Shark Scientist."

"I studied sharks and other deep sea predators." He shrugged. "Looking for similarities amongst our animals and the Kaiju mostly."

"That's stupid." Chuck wrinkled his nose. "Sharks are nothin' like a Kaiju."

"Really now?" Newt raised an eyebrow again.

"Uh-huh. For one, all the Kaiju have only got one set of teeth. All sharks got lots'a teeth in rows. The Kaiju also glow and only things that live really deep in the water glow." He nodded with all the assurance a child could have. "Then there's the eyes. So far Kaiju all seem to have big glowy eyes. Sometimes lots of eyes! My books say that shark's eyes are like ours. So they wouldn't glow."

"Very good observation." Newton agreed, impressed about the teeth actually. Out of all the Kaiju attacks so far every one had a single set of fangs. Or in the case of Karloff (who was all kinds of anomalies) dense flat-edged herbivore styled teeth.

Chuck lite up at the small praise.

"So are you planning to be a 'Shark Scientist' when your older then?" He asked, taking a bite out of the apple still left on his plate. Chuck seemed very enthused with the animals, and it was always good to see kids taking an interest in science of any-kind.

The boy deflated like a popped balloon. He went back to picking at his sodden shirt with a sad frown.

"Chuck?" Concern welled up suddenly. The boy had been so passionate about 'Shark Scientists' a moment ago.

"Dad says I can't." He whispered

What?" Newt spluttered, dropping his apple and flailing.

"He says the waters too dangerous. I can't study sharks until the Kaiju are gone." Chuck poked at the ball of used napkins. "Uncle Scott says I should join the Rangers."

Well what did you say to that? 'Screw what your parents and family think', didn't seem appropriate. Neither did, 'Well maybe you should be a ranger then.'

"Guess I'll just have to find a way to stop the Kaiju soon then, huh?" He settled on with a wry grin. Chuck gave a small smile in return, eyes grateful. Either for promising to stop the Kaiju, or not saying anything about his family. Newt was unsure.

"You wanna see the pictures though? I have them on my Laptop." He offered.

"Yeah!" Chuck grinned, quickly cleaning up the mess of milk and used papers.

Newton chuckled and threw his own unfinished food away. It was a waste, and he felt a little bad about it. The return of Chucks good cheer soothed the sharp edge away as quick as it came though. Until it was squashed entirely by Chuck reaching out and taking his hand again as they left the commissary.


End file.
